KODACHROMEBY JOHN M. KESHISHIAN, M.D. () N.G.S.
a halt in Muong Sing for lunch. Foothills of Communist China rise seven miles away
over a fire, and the markings become im
printed in brown and white on the bamboo.
The skill required for this work is such that
the first words imprinted are the name of the
artist and his village. Below is a series of
checkerboard squares, marked with the days
of the week. Groupings of dots in the squares
give guidance to travelers: warnings of danger,
predictions of happiness, and other prophecies.
We have a collection of these horoscope
canes given us by our Lao friends. But from
them we can make few predictions either for
ourselves or for Laos.
We can only hope for the freedom and
peaceful progress of this little nation squeezed
in a corner of Southeast Asia.